Air New Zealand Air Points - advice for seats on NZ1 in J for two?

My friend and I will be on NZ1 LHR-LAX (in late Oct). We have seats 4K & 5K, but 1A & 1K are also available for now. Which pair would you prefer?

1A & 1K are close together and may be conducive for conversation, but are they too close together? The NZ agent suggested two seats on the same side of the plane to facilitate conversation, and rows 2 & 3 are already taken.

I'm looking forward to trying out their new J for the first time. I'll search for a trip report on here, but any highlights & tips on the flight and lounge access would be appreciated.

If I recall correctly - 1A and 1K have the foot rests close together - but not your heads. I think conversation would be difficult. I think converstation in any of the seats sort of poses a challenge though. You are going to be eating, drinking, watching a movie and then sleeping - not much time for talking really (especially with an ambien).

With that said...

We just sat in 4A and 5A and loved it. Close to the dessert wine after dinner - yummy.